Incubator



Feb. 2 1926. 1,571,280 J. T. LANDGRAF INCUBATOR Filed Deg. 24, 1923 2Sheets-Shea 1 Feb. 2 1926. 1,571,280

J. T. LANDGRAF mcusnon Filed Dec. 24, 1923 I 2 Sheets-Shoot 2 PatentedFeb. 2, 192.6.

UNITE!) STATES JACOB T. LANDGRAF, MAGQMB, ILLENGIS,

' UCTS GO., OF MAGOMB, ILLINOIS, A

ASSIGNOR T AMERICAN STEEL I PROD- ooBronaTIoN or ILLINOIS.

INCUBATOR.

Application filed December 2%, 1923. Serial No. 682,524.

To all 1071mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jason T. LANDGRAF, citizen of the United States,residing at Macoinb, Ill nois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in an Incubator; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full. clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to the class of incubators in which the temperatureis regulated by means of a thermostat, and in one of its general objectsaims to provide a novel arrangeincnt for controlling the temperaturewithin the incubator. partly by varying the temperature within a hot airchamber adjacent to the hatching chamber of the incubator, and partly byvarying the extent to which fresh air is drawn through this hatchingchamber. For this purpose, my invention provides an air chamber abovethe hatching chamber, provides air inlets and outlets for this chamber,and arranges certain of the said inlets so that the draft of the lamp orof the heater employed as part of the incubator can produce a draftthrough this chamber either from a draft tube disposed over the heateror from the outer air.

In another aspect, my invention provides a novel mounting for athermally expansible hollow diaphragm (or plurality of diaphragms)employed in connection with an incubator, and also provides novelconstruction of the parts which are responsive in movement to theexpansion or contraction of such a diaphragm and which control themovement of air through various parts of the incubator. Furthermore, myinvention provides a novel arrangement of varione other portions of theincubator, together with novel detail features which will appear fromthe following specification and from the accompanying drawin In thedrawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an incubator embodying myinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged central and vertical section through the same.

Fig. 3 is a somewhat reduced horizontal section taken fromthe line 33 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a similarly reduced horizontal section taken from the line 4-of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a similarly reduced horizontal section taken from the line5--5 of Fig. 2, looking upward.

Fig. 6 is an enlargement ofa portion of Fig. 2, showing how the coverparts are secured to each other and how the cover is supported.

In the embodiment of the drawings, the incubator of my inventioncomprises a casin'g having a substantially flat bottom 1 provided nearits outer edge with a plurality of air inlet openings 2 and secured atits periphery to a cylindrical shell 3 which forms the outer side wallof the incubator. The bottom 1 has suitably indented plates 4 secured toits lower face to afford socket formations 5 entered by the horizontallybent upper ends 6 of legs 7 each of which legs desirably is bent from asingle strand of wire and has its said upper end portions 6 slidablyinserted in the said sockets so that the legs can readily be detached topermit the compact packing and shipping of the incubator. The bottom 1also has clips 7 formed from it for receiving the bent upper ends of apair of links 8 which are secured to the reservoir 9 of the oil lampemployed with the heater, so as to suspend this lamp from the bottomplate which in turn is rigidly supported by the said legs. The lamp hasa chimney 10 extending through a central opening in the bottom plate 1into a draft tube 11 which is secured to this bottom plate and extendsupward from the same to a point which desirably is considerablybelow thetop of the outer side wall 3. Loosely surrounding this draft tube 11 isa collar 12 which rests upon the upper sur' face of the'bottom plate 1and which has the inner edge of an annular wire screen 13 secured to thesame at some distance above the lower end of the said collar. The outerend of the screen desirably has a metal binding 14 adapted to rest oninwardly directed lugs 15 formed from an inner shell 24. This innershell is somewhat smaller in diameter than the outer shell 3 so as toprovide an air jacket between the two, and the inner shell is desirablyflared outwardly at its upper end. as shown at 25 in Fig. 2 so as tohave its upper end. portion secured to the said outer wall 3, while theoutwardly directed: portion 25- of the inn'ershell also affords anannular ledge for supporting the tit the coveri removable cover portionof the incubator. This removable cover portion carries the thermostaticcontrol device, together with a chimney afford a flue in the extensionof the lamp chimney 10. For this purpose, I am here showing thedetachable top member as comprising a lower plate 18 spaced from anupper plate 19 so as to provide a hot air chamber between the two, thisupper plate 19 being desirably bowed downward adjacent to its outer edgeand secured to the lower plate 18 at its periphery by a seamingoperation as also shown in Fig. 2. The hollow chamber thus formed in thecover has associated with it a fine tube 20 which extends tl'irough anaperture in the bottom 18 of the hollow cover and which desirablyterminates substantially flush with a corresponding aperture in the topplate 19, this flue tube 20 being desirably of such a length as toextend around and somewhat below the upper end of the lamp chimney 10.EX- tending into this fine tube 20'from the said air chamber in thecover member are a plurality of tubes 21 which extend radially outwardfrom the flue tube for a considerable distance. Each of these radialtubes desirably rests uponthe bottom plate 18 of the cover member andopens into the said hot air chamber at a distance from the edge of Thishot air chamber also has apertures 22substantially at its periphery andnear the bottom of the chamber, such apertures being here shown in theform of openings in the downwardly bent outer portion of the top of thecover member, and these apertures 22 are out of alinement with theradial 'tlue tubes 20.

Mounted within the hatching chamber which is inclosed by thesubstantially horizontal plates 1 and 18 and the inner shell isa'thcrinostat which has as its actuating member one or more hollow andthermally expansible diaphragms 23 filled with a liquid adapted tovaporize at a temperature below that to which the temperature in thehatching chamber is to be restricted. This aczuating member is hereshown as comprisa pair o't superposed hollow diaphragms 2 supported bythe lower arm 16 of a fork 3 '-l-,this fork being clamped to a verticaltube 25' which extends through the cover member into the incubator,chamber and which attords a guide for a thrust stem 26. The thruststem'may be a simple rod resting loosely on the upper diaphragm andextend ing at itsupper end through a base of a forked bearing 27 whichhas a damper-carrying lever pivoted to it. This lever has an adjustingscrew 28 threaded through it and engaging the upper end of [the thruststem 26, the thrust stem and screw being desira-v bly rather close'tothe pivotal mounting of the levers so that the 'lever will greatlyincrease the extent ofmovement over that af- :torded by the expansionand contraction of the diaphragms. The free end of the lever isdesirably formed into a hook 29 overhanging the draft flue 20 andsupporting a damper 30 which is larger in diameter than the upper end ofthe said draft flue and which normally closes the opening in the top ofthe cover.

\Vith the parts thus arranged, the screw 28is initially adjusted so thatthe thermostatic diaphragms will not lift the damper or closure member30 out oi its normal closure position of Fig. 2 until the temperature inthe hatching chamber exceeds a certain degree. .Vith the flue outletthrough the top of the incubator thus closed, the hot gases rising fromthe lamp pass through the radial tubes 21 into the hot air chamberwithin the cover and reach the outer air through the outlet openings 22.In doing so, these hot gasesfirst heat the radial tubes 21 which rest onthe bottom plate 18 of the cover and then travel furtheroverthe upper-face of this cover so asto heat the latter and hence warm the hatchingchamber under this plate 18. To increase the efiectiveness of thisheating action, I desirably locate the outlets 22 close to the bottomplate 18, and by havingthese outlets out of alinement with the radialtubes 21, I compel the air currents to follow circuitous routes as shownfor ex ample by the arrows in Fig. 3.

As the temperature in the hatching chamber increases, the eXpansiblediaphragms or socalled thermostatic wafers expand and move the leverthrough the action of the thrust member 26, thereby raising the damperor closure member and affording a direct flue outlet through the cover.The hot gases then follow the shorter path by issuing either wholly orin part through the upper end Q'f the flue tube 20 instead of thei gallpassing through the hot air chamber within the-cover, and hence donotcontinue to beat. this chamber. Indeed, if the rise of temperaturewithin the hatching chamber is such as to etlect a considerable raisingof the damper 30, the upward movement of the hotgases through the fluetube 20 also produces an ejector action bydrawing warm air from the hotair chamber into this flue tube, this warm air being then replaced bycold airentering through the lateral apertures 22.

The raising of the closure member 30 also affects the passage of airthrough the bore of the draft collar. As long as the upper end of thevertical flue tube 20 is closed, the relatively small bores of theradial tubes 21 as well as their horizontal position retard the draftproducing eliect of the flue tube 20. Consequently, some of the warmedair surrounding th lamp chimney 10 will rise throughthe bore of thecollar 11 and will pass upbetween this collar and the flue tube loo 21)so as to enter the hatching chamber and increase the heating of thelatter. When the closure member 30 is raised, the increase in th upwarddraft through the flue tube 20 will cause more of this heated air topass into the flue tube between the bore of the latter and the upper endof the chimney, thereby diverting freshly warmed air from the hatchingchamber. Indeed, an unusual lift of th damper may even increase the fluedraft to such an extent as to'cause a down draft around the flue tubethrough the collar 11, thereby drawing warm air from the hatchingchamber, this being replaced-by cool'air entering through the'bottomopenings 2. However, the height to which the draft tube 11 extends intothe hatching chan'iber retards this last named action so as to avoid anundue cooling of the eggs.

IVhen the lamp is first lighted, it heats the hatching chamber in threeways, name-- 1y by warming the an under the bottom ofthe incubator, byheating the flue tube and the upper hot air chamber, and by heating airwhich passes into the hatching chamber through the collar 11. Owing tothis threefold action, I can raise the hatching chamher to the desiredtemperature in a relatively short time, and since the lateral wall ofthe hatching chamber is air jacketed, while the top and bottom of thischamber are both heated, the needed minimum temperature in the hatchingchamber is easily maintained. Furthermore, since the flue tube radiatesheat both into the hatching chamber and into the upper hot air chamber,and since the hot gases are keptclose to the bottom plate of the coverwhile passing through the latter, I utilize the heating action of thelamp to an unusual degree. Consequently, my simple construction affordsan incubator which is highly efficient as well as quick in its responseto temperature variations in the hatching chamber.

By extending the draft flue 20 into the draft tube 11 for a considerabledistance, I avoid drawing an undesirably large amount of fresh airthrough the hatching chamber and hence do not cause the action of thethermostat to retard the rate of incubation, although I do secur asufficient air movement through the hatching chamber to maintain thedesirable freshness of the air in the same. Then the balance of anyneeded cooling effect is secured by my cooling the air within thechamber of the cover after the manner above described.

By adjoining the inner and outer lateral walls of the incubator througha horizontal flange or ledge 25, I provide a suitable support for thecover and one which will permit the adjoined outer edges of the coverparts to fit snugly into the resulting cup shaped formation as shown inFig. 6, the

cover being readily drawn outof such a snug seating by a lifting ringThe'lugs 15 on the inner wall afford a simple outer support for thescreen 13 upon which the eggs are placed, and the upward extension ofthe collar 12 which supports this screen at its inner edge affords aconvenient handhold for enabling the screen to be withdrawn or replacedin position. Moreover, since both the flue tube and the entirethermostatic control arrangement are mounted on the cover, the mereremoval of the latter permits free access to the hatching chamber andthe entire arrangement is such as to require no skill or previousexperience for its handling.

However, while I have illustrated and described my invention in anembodiment including many highly desirable details of construction andarrangement, I do not wish to be limited to these, since many changesmight obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of myinvention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. In an incubator, a casing having a closedbottom, an inner shell in the casing seated on the bottom of the casingand formed at its upper end' with an outwardly directed portion disposedat a distance below the casing top and engaging the casing sides tospace the inner shell therefrom and to provide a ledge, a draft tubeextending upwardly from the casing bottom, a collar seated on the casingbottom and spacedly surrounding the draft tube, a foraminous membercarried by the collar and engaged with the casing sides, lugs struck outfrom the inner shell to support said member, a cover having a top andspaced bottom the wardly and are connected together and seat on saidlodge, a. central depending chimney connected to the cover and extendinginto the collar, and a series of radial flue tubes extending through thechimney and having their outer ends spaced from the cover sides.

2. In an incubator, a casing having a closed bottom, an inner shell inthe casing seated on the bottom of the casing and formed at its upperend with an outwardly directed portion disposed at a distance below thecasing top and engaging the casing sides to space the inner shelltherefrom and to provide a ledge, a draft tube extending upwardly fromthe casing bottom, a collar seated on the casing bottom and spacedlysurrounding the draft tube, a foraminous membercarried by the collar andengaged with the casing sides, a hollow'cover seated on the ledge, acentral depending chimney connected to the cover and extending into thecollar, and a series of spaced radial flue tubes extending through thechimney and having their outer ends spaced from the 'marginal edges ofwhich extend downcover sides, the cover sides havingloutlets arranged atpoints in alinement with the spaces between the flue tubes. a

3.1n an incubator, a casing having a hatching chamber, a heating chamberabove the hatching chamber, a central chimney extending through theheating chamber and into the hatching chamber, heating means incommunication with the chimney, and a series of spaced radial flue tubesextending into the chimney and having their outer ends spaced from thesides of the heating chamber, the heating chamberhaving outlets in itssides arranged at points in ,alinement with the spaces between the fluetubes.

4. In an incubator, a casing having a closed bottom, an inner shell inthe casing seated on the bottom thereof and having an outwardly directedupper portion disposed at a distance below the casing top and engagingthe casing sides to space the inner shell therefrom and to form a ledge,a hollow cover having a rim seated on the ledge, a central dependingchimney carried by the cover,a series of spaced radial fiue tubes in thecover interior extending into'the chimney and having their outer endsspaced from the sides of the cover, the heating chamber having outletsin its sides arranged at points in alinment with the spaces between theflue tubes, and a heater communicating with the chimney.

Signed at Macomb, Illinois, December 10th, 1923.

JACOB T. LANDGRAFR

